


The Truth is Out There

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 22:32:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11930655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: For the prompts: 'You’re an idiot. I married an idiot.' and 'She’s my daughter, I can read her diary.'Season 11 AU.





	The Truth is Out There

She has her hands on her hips and she’s seething. Mulder is in front of her, pouting. You’re an idiot. I married an idiot. She thinks it, but presses her lips shut. His hair is wet from working outside in a rain shower and it’s sticking to his face. She thinks of Bellefleur. And she softens. Yeah, but he’s my idiot.  
“Mulder, go and get dry. You’re dripping over the floor.”  
“I just want to know why you’re mad, Scully.”  
“You really need to ask?”  
His slight nod plays at her conscience. Of course he does. The changes in the house, in their lives have been so momentous that she forgets sometimes that he’s still playing catch up. Years of isolation, depression, anxiety. Followed by a return trip to the Bureau to investigate a case so close to their hearts that she was fearful they would uncover more than even they were prepared to believe. And yet. Believe they did. He paid a higher price than her. And life will never be the same.  
Years ago, Maggie Scully found Melissa’s diary. It was hidden in an old suitcase stored in the bottom of Missy’s closet and covered under a pile of old jumpers and blankets. But find it she did and, she would swear later, that it was only out of a sense of fear and mother’s intuition, that she read it, believing that her daughter was dabbling in a relationship that would be her undoing. Maggie feared Missy was pregnant and she went looking for evidence. What she found was nothing of the sort. What she found was trouble.  
William Scully was an old-fashioned man. A principled man. And even though he knew Missy was wilful and headstrong, there were certain rules that one abided by in life and privacy was key.  
“She’s my daughter, I can read her diary. Melissa is deceitful, rude and out of line.” Maggie crossed her arms and Dana stood at the half-closed kitchen door wondering which way to turn. Her parents rarely argued and she’d never seen her mother so furious.  
“Margaret,” her father’s tone was low, stirring. “Melissa may be many things but she is entitled to privacy.”  
“She lost her rights when she started sneaking around with that boy, Bill. You know what she’s like. Give her an inch and she’ll take a mile. She’s already trying to turn Dana around. I heard her saying just the other day that she wasn’t sure she wanted to be doctor.”  
Her father put his hands on her mother’s shoulders and smiled. “We’ve raised our children right, Maggie my love. They are independent young women. And mostly, they make me proud. Melissa may be going through a wild phase but she is still a delightfully empathetic and deep-thinking person. I think we need to cultivate that, not inhibit it by removing her trust in us.”  
Her mother fell forward in his embrace and Dana felt tears sting at her eyes. Since when did her dad become so sensitive?  
“Besides,” he said. “Don’t you remember your own mother and the way she’d sit out on the deck waiting for me to walk you up the path? We cursed that woman for not giving us any peace. Let’s try not to be like that.”  
He kissed her mother’s head and she looked up at him. “You’re right, Bill. Always. I’ll apologise to Melissa. And keep out of her love-life.”  
Realisation dawns over Mulder’s face and he crumples to the nearest seat.  
“I did it again, didn’t I?”  
She nods, sitting on the seat next to him and taking his hands in hers. “It’s okay, Mulder. I know you’re trying really hard to fight it, but he’s just…he’s still adjusting and, well, he’s a teenage boy. You remember what that’s like.”  
He frowns and shakes his head. “Sometimes I remember every detail of every day, Scully. And then other times there’s just a blank space and no matter how hard I search, I can’t find myself.”  
“William knows what’s going on. He understands how devastating the virus was to your health. And he’s still coming to terms with what happened to his parents and to being here with us. It’s going to take a long time to steady this ship we’re sailing. But reading his mind, Mulder. He takes it really hard.”  
Mulder’s hands are trembling and she doesn’t know if it’s cold or humiliation. “I’ll speak to him. Smooth it over.”  
“I’m not sure it’ll be that easy this time. He’s fallen pretty hard for Amy. And now you know just how hard…”  
It’s been a while since she saw Fox Mulder embarrassed but the colour on his cheeks is almost as red as his freezer burn from their trip to Antarctica. “It’s not like I don’t know it’s happening, it’s just that it’s still so fascinating that I forget to switch it off, sometimes. I can’t really explain it, Scully. I don’t mean to pry but it’s like I’m getting to understand him, when I get inside his head, he becomes our son, and not just this kid who has our genes but is basically a stranger. He’s a wonderful young man. His parents did a great job bringing him up. But we missed so much,” he looks at her and tears fill his eyes. “We missed how he’s grown into this fiercely intelligent yet sensitive person, Scully.”  
She leans into him. “And I think we need to cultivate that, not inhibit it by removing his trust in us.”  
His head flops back.  
She smiles. “Don’t you remember our paranoia? When we thought everyone was watching us, spying on us, Mulder? Let’s try not to let his life be like that.”  
Mulder nods. “You’re right, Scully. Always. I’ll apologise to William. And keep out of his love-life.”  
“Does he love her, Mulder?”  
He chuckles. “Whatever happened to not inhibiting his trust in us, Scully?”  
“I changed it to ‘inhibit it, if it means we get to find out how he really feels about Amy.’ I didn’t tell you?”  
He laughs and she squeezes his hands. “Go and get dried first. And then you and your empath son can communicate without words, or whatever it is that you do.” He stares at her, hard. And for a beat she’s worried that he’s having another episode. “Mulder? Mulder? You’re scaring me.”  
Footsteps cross the tiled floor and William grabs a glass and fills it with water. “He’s playing you, Scully.”  
Mulder shoots him a look.  
“What?” William says, slouching against the sink. “You do it to me.”  
“What are you talking about?” she asks.  
William’s lips curl into a smile. A real Fox Mulder grin. “He says he loves you, Scully. So much that you’ll never understand.”  
Mulder sighs and hangs his head. “A man has no secrets in this house.”  
“The truth is finally out there, Mulder,” William says and leaves them in the silence of the kitchen with only their thoughts for company.


End file.
